3 Reasons Why Modern Product Delivery Takes A Community

Note: The following is an excerpt from our Forrester Consulting commissioned report, The State of Modern Product Delivery. Read the full report for key insights on the current trends and challenges in product delivery.

Delivering great products requires participation across a wide range of competencies, from corner offices to customer support (see figure below). High levels of executive participation are a strong indicator of the importance that great products play in organizational success. Customers are unforgiving of disappointment, as fallen market leaders have learned painfully well. Building great products requires harmoniously integrating every aspect of the product life cycle, requiring unprecedented coordination and collaboration across a wide range of roles.

Successful products require coordination across product development, marketing, sales, support and operations. Customers don’t know or care how you’re organized — only how well you meet their needs. Great product experiences are reinforced and amplified by ease of doing business. Goodwill takes years to build but only moments to lose. Outstanding customer experiences are more than product-deep.

Modern products are complex and multifaceted. Simple standalone products have given way to complex, multifaceted, smart products. Mobile apps are portals into other services, and consumers expect them to work together seamlessly. They also expect to have the same capabilities across mobile, cloud, and rich client platforms. Keeping it all in sync while driving innovation is a complex coordination challenge.

Product development is only part of the story. Great products don’t become great until people use them. Building buzz is about reaching customers through traditional sales and marketing, but also through communities centered on social media. Delivering truly great products means bringing together people with diverse perspectives and skills who focus on delivering better customer experiences and outcomes — something that’s easier said than done.